Prince / Welcome 2 Oakland (6CDR)

This six-disc set captures the three-day Oakland performance from the midpoint of the W2A tour, a truly impressive tour. The sound quality is unmatched, with all recordings featuring the finest audiences! Now available at a special price! The content, as expected from the genius Prince himself, has undergone even further transformation! The 21st includes Larry Graham's opening act! Prince's surprise appearance resulted in a high-energy performance! The addition of the GCS horn section makes it even funkier! The second half of "I Want To Take You Higher" features devastating drumming, John Blackwell's signature bass and guitar jams, and a performance that's instantly brought to a boiling point! From there, it's straight into "Uptown." Cool has a slightly longer intro. Sheila E. is there, and they play "The Glamorous Life" right away! And the Santana Medley isn't the usual quick end swoop; it's a full eight-minute performance! The highlight of this live performance is Prince's incredible guitar work, blending destructive power with melancholy. The phrasing is explosive, something you'd never hear in Santana, and Prince yells for someone to call the police! Then, unexpectedly, Carlos Santana himself makes a surprise appearance! Yet Prince introduces his bandmates, and their relationship is uncanny. The freaky guitar is unmistakably Santana! Sheila E. plays percussion, delivering a truly Latin-infused performance of the best! Prince confidently chimes in with, "I told you I was going to play the best music on earth, right?" There's also a rare Elissa cover of "No One Else"! It's even more soulful than Amel Larrieu's version! Then, Prince asks Shelby to sing Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue," suggesting an older song. Prince's occasional quirky screams are entertaining! A cool, cutting intro with a hook leads suddenly into "A Love Bizarre" with the ABCD chant! Sheila's presence adds a powerful touch to the performance, and perhaps because Santana is watching, Prince's guitar is free-flowing, and the medley-like transition into "Controversy" is thrilling! Prince mentions that Sheila and Larry are there, so Larry must be onstage too! The second half of "If I Was Your Girlfriend" turns into a percussion jam, with Shelby coming forward and Prince adding some light rhythm cutting, before showcasing Rihanna's Rude Boy! The cheap keyboard sounds in the backing also create an exquisite effect! From there, a ballad medley begins with "Insatiable," which sounds like the morning sun shining through! A heavy world of authentic singing, complete with shouts! It would be strange to end the set here, but Bambi is played for the first time in a while! There's a part where he plays for over five minutes, far removed from the original, so it's a must-listen! The following rock-esque "Dreamer" features powerful guitar that hits you right in the lower body, and best of all, the backing vocals sing a phrase from the new song "Welcome 2 America"! The drumming is also exquisite, and the bass responds to the groovy vibe. A fantastic closing! Then on the 23rd, the set continued with "Let's Go Crazy," which followed "20Ten," followed by "Little Red Corvette." The set featured a slightly altered feel, with a longer intro and some solos from the band members. "The Glamorous Life" was performed with Sheila's presence, and "Somewhere Here On Earth" returned to the setlist after a long time! Renato's keyboards provided the backing, while Prince delivered a meticulous vocal performance! This then led to "Eye Love U But Eye Don't Trust U Anymore." The medley's seamless, flowing progression was amazing! And then the jaw-dropping "Controversy" began. After getting the crowd fired up for over 11 minutes, Prince sang "A Love Bizarre" with Sheila, as if it were a medley, before storming into "Play That Funky Music"! Prince's tireless playing continued uninterrupted! Just when you thought the guitar was finally over, "Thank You" continued! Just when you thought the bass was bouncing, it was Larry Graham! In response, Prince's freaky guitar improves, the backing vocals get darker, and horns from GCS add to the funky, upbeat version. But it's not over yet! The guitar part of "Sexy Dancer Vs Le Freak" and the final "Controvesy (Reprise)" make for a spectacular 30-minute Controversy medley! It's a super-long version that will leave you in agony! And then there's the 9-minute sampler set, which made a huge comeback on the Welcome 2 America tour! The audience went wild for "When Doves Cry," and Prince even sang along with them! Prince's scratching skills are even better than in 21 Nights! He even throws in a funky phrase like "Undisputed" after "Darling Nikki!" Prince sings "Pop Life," but he also sings the backing vocals, so it's not just Prince alone! There's also a variety of interesting material, like Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" and "Black Sweat," and the set closes with a time medley! Prince's MCing brings the show to a professional conclusion! And on the 24th, they kicked off with the rare and majestic "The Love We Make!" It continued with "Take Me With U," a guitar-driven pop-rock number, a return to Anotherloverholenyohead's set! "Shhh" rounded out the rocking Prince sound! Sheila finally appeared with the danceable "The Glamorous Life"! She appeared in all three sets! Controversy might seem a bit dwarfed by the epic 30-minute performance the day before, but it featured Prince's superb guitar chops, Sheila's lively percussion, a clever inclusion of "Which Way Is Up," and a cool 18-minute version that connected with "A Love Bizarre"! Then they played a new song with backing vocals! It was a very comfortable mid-tempo number with a fusion flavor! They continued with "She's Always In My Hair" and "Dreamer," but the earthy version, featuring the backing vocals singing the vocal phrases from "Welcome 2 America," was so cool it gave me goosebumps! They continued with Mountain from the opening act on the 21st, but on the 24th, even though Larry Graham was there, they didn't perform "I Want To Take You Higher," instead transitioning to Prince-led "Alphabet St."! This development has never been seen before. It's a very funky version, with Prince's lively guitar and Larry's thumping bass! And then they move into "Thank You!" The blistering funk-funk progression will captivate you with the power of Prince and Larry! Prince screams in a manic state, and then they move into "The Jam," which is just mind-blowing! This was the signature song at GCS and NPG aftershows, and now it's here, in a medley! First up is the original Larry Graham, who introduces the NPG members: Mr. Haze, Sheila E., Cassandra, and Renato! And then it's not Eda on bass, but Larry, who introduces himself! Prince plays his best guitar throughout! And then there's the piano set! They played three songs: Under the Cherry Moon, Do Me Baby, and I Wanna Be Your Lover, followed by a seven-and-a-half-minute sampler set! 777-9311 was also played, and when Prince sang "I Would Die 4 U," the audience joined in. They immediately stopped singing along to "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World," as if to say, "Please don't sing along." Then, instead of the unusual "Uptown," they suddenly played "Raspberry Beret," and the audience erupted in a chorus! They ended with "U Got the Look," a somewhat chaotic closing performance, but surprises were sprinkled throughout the final day!

Disc 1
1.Mountains/Shake Your Body 2.Everyday People/I Want To Take You Higher 3.Uptown 4.Raspberry Beret 5.Cream 6.Cool 7.Let's Work 8.U Got The Look 9.The Glamorous Life 10.Santana Medley 11.No One Else 12.Misty Blue 13.A Love Bizarre 14.Controversy 15.Purple Rain

Disc 2
1.Kiss 2.If I Was Your Girlfriend 3.Rude Boy 4.Insatiable 5.Scandalous 6.Adore 7.Audience 8.Bambi 9.Dreamer(inc. Welcome 2 America)

Oracle Arena, Oakland Feb 21, 2011

Disc 3

1.Intro 2.Let's Go Crazy 3.Delerious 4.Let's Go Crazy (reprise) 5.1999 6.Little Red Corvette 7.The Glamorous Life 8.Somewhere Here On Earth 9.Eye Love U But Eye Don't Trust U Anymore 10.Controversy 11.A Love Bizarre 12.Play That Funky Music 13.Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) 14.Sexy Dancer vs Le Freak 15.Love Rollercoaster 16.Controversy(reprise) 17.Angel

Disc 4
1.If I Was Your Girlfriend 2.Kiss 3.Purple Rain 4.Audience 5.Disco Heat 6.Baby I'm A Star 7.Audience 8.Sampler Set(When Doves Cry/Nasty Girl/Sign O' The Times/Alphabet St./Forever In My Life/Darling Nikki/Pop Life/Single Ladies/Black Sweat 9.The Bird 10.Jungle Love

Oracle Arena, Oakland Feb 23, 2011

Disc 5

1.The Love We Make 2.Take Me With U 3.Guitar 4.Anotherloverholenyohead/Rock Lobster 5.Shhh 6.The Glamorous Life 7.Controversy 8.Which Way Is Up 9.A Love Bizarre 10.Interlude 11.Nothing Compares 2 U 12. She's Always In My Hair 13.Dreamer (including Welcome 2 America) 14.Let's Go Crazy 15.Delerious 16.Let's Go Crazy (reprise)

Disc 6
1.1999 2.Little Red Corvette 3.Mountains 4.Everyday People 5.Alphabet St. 6.Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) 7.The Jam 8.Purple Rain 9.Kiss 10.I Love U Back Oakland 11.Under The Cherry Moon 12.Do Me Baby 13.I Wanna Be Your Lover 14.Sampler Set(When Doves Cry/Nasty Girl/I Would Die 4 U/Darling Nikki/Pop Life/The Most Beautiful Girl In The World/Sign 'O'The Times/All The Single Ladies) 15.Raspberry Beret 16.Cream 17.Cool 18.Let's Work 19.U Got The Look

Oracle Arena, Oakland Feb 24, 2011